Raritan Bay Medical Center plans to meet with a potential buyer next month to sell its Old Bridge Division in an effort to secure a funding infusion for its struggling Perth Amboy facility.

Four companies have submitted bids to purchase the Old Bridge facility, Lynette Davis, the hospitals' vice president for marketing and business development, said in statement today.

Hospital officials have not identified the bidders nor disclosed how much they intend to gain from the sale.

Employees at the two hospitals were informed of a possible sale of the Old Bridge division in a September newsletter, Davis said. Shortfalls in state reimbursements for treating uninsured patients have eaten into the Perth Amboy hospital's cash reserves, and the Old Bridge sale is one strategy being used to save it.

Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, who was informed of the possible sale a month ago, praised the hospital's effort to improve the finances of the 388-bed city facility.

"I'm so happy they are doing this. I'm hoping they're going to be around," Diaz said.

Her city needs the hospital, she said, because it provides access to medical care and it is the largest employer in Perth Amboy. Diaz and hospital president and CEO Michael D'Agnes appeared in announcements on local-access television to promote the hospital, the mayor said.

"This will help them be more competitive and successful in the future, and it will help them a great deal," said Vitale, chairman of the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

"The hospitals are stuck with hundreds of millions of dollars of unpaid bills every year. The taxpayers of New Jersey don't have all the money to pay all the bills," Vitale said.

The Old Bridge hospital, which operates at a profit, has 113 beds, officials said.

Hospitals throughout the state incur losses from treating uninsured patients. This year, hospitals will spend $1.3 billion on patients without health care insurance, but the state will provide $605 million in reimbursement, said Kerry McKean Kelly, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association.

"It's a key part of the problem," she said.

Since the beginning of 2007, eight hospitals have been forced to close, and half of the remaining 74 acute-care facilities in New Jersey are losing money, Kelly said.

"It's a very difficult financial environment," she said.

The Perth Amboy hospital will receive $13.4 million in state charity-care subsidies this year, far more than the $1.1 million in reimbursements to the Old Bridge Division, which sees fewer uninsured patients, according to state records.

In August, Raritan Bay laid off 29 employees at the Perth Amboy Division, but that was related to changes in medical care service and not the potential sale of the Old Bridge hospital, Davis said.

Any sale of the Old Bridge facility would be reviewed by the state Department of Health and Senior Services, which is required to ensure care is maintained to the communities in Perth Amboy and Old Bridge, agency spokeswoman Donna Leusner said.

Old Bridge Mayor James Phillips suspects the hospital there will attract a buyer because it has land for expansion and is surrounded by developing municipalities with growing populations.

Phillips' two concerns are continuing acute care, or the multiple services of a traditional hospital - rather than converting to a specialized-care facility - and protecting hospital employees.